To get you started, from The Big Read Reader?s Guide to The Joy Luck Club, here?s Amy Tan on the importance of reading.

"In childhood, reading provided a refuge for me, especially during difficult times. It provided me with the idea that I could find an ending that was different from what was happening at the time. Imagination is the closest thing that we have to compassion and empathy. When you read about the life of another person, you are part of their lives for that moment. This is so vital, especially today, when we have so much misunderstanding across cultures and even within our own communities." -- Amy Tan